February 14, 2018

Jury selection began this morning in Butler County in the trial of a Poplar Bluff, Mo., man accused of killing his former brother-in-law during an ongoing domestic dispute. About 85 Butler County residents were to report to the courthouse to begin the selection process in the trial of Eddie Joseph Skorcz of the 900 block of County Road 608 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett...

Jury selection began this morning in Butler County in the trial of a Poplar Bluff, Mo., man accused of killing his former brother-in-law during an ongoing domestic dispute.

About 85 Butler County residents were to report to the courthouse to begin the selection process in the trial of Eddie Joseph Skorcz of the 900 block of County Road 608 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett.

The 60-year-old is charged with the Class A felony of second-degree murder and unclassified felony of armed criminal action (ACA) in connection with the death of Mitchell Dugger.

That charge accuses Skorcz of causing serious physical injury to Dugger, which resulted in his death.

Butler County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Paul Oesterreicher amended the charges against Skorcz on Jan. 22.

In addition to Skorcz's original charges, he now is charged in the alternative with the Class B felony of voluntary manslaughter and ACA or in the alternative the Class C felony of involuntary manslaughter.

The new charges accused Skorcz acting with a purpose to cause serious physical injury to Dugger, which caused his death by shooting him, or recklessly causing the man's death by shooting him.

Once seated, the jury is expected to hear testimony from law enforcement and civilian witnesses. The trial is slated to run through Friday.

The testimony will surround an incident, which occurred at about 7:25 p.m. Oct. 14, 2015, and resulted in Skorcz allegedly shooting Dugger during what authorities described as an ongoing domestic dispute among family members, which escalated in the parking lot area of Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center Behavioral Health.

The alleged altercation, according to earlier reports, started out verbal and then "quickly turned physical."

Dugger reportedly was shot at least twice on his left side, in his leg and shoulder areas.

The 52-year-old Broseley, Mo., man later died on Oct. 27, 2015, at Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., after his family removed him from life support.

Dugger died of what then Butler County Corner Jim Akers said were "complications developing from a gunshot wound to include renal failure and pneumonia."

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